Democracy Week
The DW Democracy Accelerator
The anger is widespread. So is our common ground.
Trust in government, and in each other, is at a record low. But on issue after issue, Americans agree far more than most people think. The massive cross-partisan middle is disconnected, unmobilized, and powerful.
Our system is under strain
The field is not built for this moment
Funding and support are lacking
An accelerator for the bridge-building movement
We find promising cross-partisan civic projects, back them with mentors and a network (and hopefully soon, funding), and help them grow their impact before November, focusing on the most critical issues and the most critical districts.
Cross-partisan by design and by governance
Fluent in tech and media
Joy and purpose, together
Let’s move fast and make things
Three months. Mostly online. A mix of cohort sessions and 1-on-1 support, built on tested accelerator practices refined through R&D and running 100+ sprint and accelerator cycles.
Week 1 for each team
Rapid diagnostic
Weekly while in program
Expert support
Adapted to team needs
Network access
October onwards
Visibility
Time in the program should be a net time saving on your project
Program activities and support run 1 to 3 hours a week, adapted to the needs and availability of the teams, and focused on your top priorities to help you get them done quicker. Unblocking, creative solutions, growth support. To help projects be more effective and move quicker, we prefer projects with at least one person working full time.
On money: the program is free, and there’s no equity. We’re not providing funding to teams at this stage. We’re working on mobilizing grant funding to be able to directly support teams, plus doing referrals to other funders.
Path to November. And beyond.
Aim high for the midterms, and build something that outlasts them.
August · We are here
Project setup and launch
Launch the site, call for mentors and partners, confirm initial funding, outreach for projects publicly and in-network, refine shared cross-partisan priorities.
Applications open late Aug
September
Program support begins
First teams selected and onboarded, with initial focus on growth-ready initiatives. Diagnostics run in each team’s first week.
Rolling selection
October
Visibility and growth
Boost support leading up to Election Day, and help teams reach their next milestones through our collective networks, mentorship and events.
Democracy Week / Tech Week
Nov–Dec
Reflect, adapt, grow
Reflect on the post-election context and on what worked for the program and the teams. Adapt the design. Grow. Mentorship and visibility continue past December.
Election Nov 3
Running underneath all of it: co-writing the Principles of our Democratic Republic, and our Declaration of Interdependence, our shared values documents.
We’re looking for Builders
Teams working on elections, information integrity, and government accountability. Anyone with a project that could move faster with mentors and a network.
What we look for
- For profit or nonprofit. High tech or low tech. A phone tree that works beats an app that doesn’t.
- Strong growth and impact potential, through replicability or scaling.
- Strong in at least one of our five pillars, doing no harm to the others.
- Impact before November, and even more impact after.
- Growth-ready projects. Early-stage ideas considered case by case.
The kind of work we mean
Free and fair elections. Voter tools, turnout infrastructure, election administration support.
Information integrity. Local independent media, tools for independent media, provenance and verification.
Accountable government. Making local government legible, oversight tools, deliberation and assembly infrastructure.
The first thing we’ll ask you: what are your top one to three challenges between now and the election?
Next: what do you need to do to resolve those, and what help do you need?
What teams walk away with
We’re looking for short term impact, and long term infrastructure building.
- 01
Further along
Than you’d have gotten alone, on the things that were actually blocking you.
- 02
A clearer plan and a stronger team
A sharper strategy through the diagnostic and workplan process.
- 03
Connections across the aisle
That you didn’t have before.
- 04
A path to follow-on funding
Through the funders and partners we introduce you to.
- 05
Real activity before November
And a foundation that outlasts the cycle.
How we decide, and who decides
Cross-partisan is easy to claim and hard to prove, so we built it into the rules rather than the marketing. Politically sensitive decisions, including which projects get selected, go to a Political Advisory Board split into three clusters.
Left-leaning
3–5 seats
Centrist & independent
3–5 seats
Right-leaning
3–5 seats
A decision needs a two-thirds majority overall, plus at least half of each cluster. If we can’t get there, we work it through or we drop it.
An Operational Advisory Board covers the non-political side of running the program. We’re currently operating through a fiscal sponsor, the California Doughnut Economics Coalition, with formal governance set up as needed. Our aim is to shift governance to a broad and open Citizen Council within two years.
Several cluster seats are still open. If you’d be a good fit, get in touch. · See who’s on the boards
Community partners
Democracy Week and Accelerator Partners
Cross-partisan by belief and design. Any interested group can be a community partner for free.
Mentors and experts
A few hours can change a project’s trajectory. You choose how much time you give and which teams you work with. We especially need fundraising, product and engineering, legal, comms, distribution, election administration, and facilitation. No political background required, and we’re not asking how you vote.
Partners and sponsors
Bring your organization’s community in, open a door for a team, offer perks or tools, or help fund the program so we can get grants into teams’ hands. We’re looking for partners from across the spectrum, on purpose.
Submit a project
Rolling selection, starting early September. Five to ten teams in the first round. Tell us what you’re building and what’s in your way.
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